Benzinga recently published an interview with Alexis Caporale, selected as one of the 50 most innovative young leaders in the world for his work as co-founder and CEO of Trimaker, the Latin American leader in 3D printing. However, this is not...

“The 3D printing technology, like every other industry technology, has to be a part of a productive process. On its own, it’s much more similar to a toy,” Trimaker Co-Founder Alexis Caporale — recently selected as one of the 50 most...

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fandango, the most popular online movie ticket seller
in the U.S., has bought Cinepapaya, a Peru-based online ticket selling company,
as Fandango expands its film market in to the more appealing Latin American
market.
The...

Latin America is made up completely by developing and emerging markets. The country leading the region's growth is Brazil. About half the countries in the region are classified as lower middle income countries (for example: Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama) and the other half is classified as upper middle income countries (for example: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile). The largest countries in Latin America are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and Chile. These economies are driven largely by commodity production like oil, silver, and corn, but growth in services like telecommunications also has a major impact on their economies. Since all of the countries are developing and emerging markets, construction of infrastructure and expanding banking services are characteristic of many of the nations. This is particularly true of Brazil as it is home to the largest steel producer in Latin America as well as the four largest banks.

The nature of most large Latin American companies is to provide basic materials. In the 2007-2008 period, with the dollar depreciating, companies have seen their profit margins affected positively due to increased prices (after exchange).[1]

Exchange Traded Funds

Overview

Nominal GDP of Top Countries

Brazil, Mexico and Argentina top the list in terms of total GDP. However, Argentina has the fastest growth rate of the three (and overall).

Country

GDP (nominal, $M)

World Rank

GDP Growth

Brazil

1,314,000

10

5.10%

Mexico

886,400

15

2.90%

Argentina

245,600

32

8.70%

Venezuela

250,900

34

8.40%

Colombia

171,700

38

6.50%

Chile

160,800

42

5.20%

Peru

101,500

55

7.50%

Ecuador

44,500

69

1.80%

Guatemala

31,350

76

5.60%

Costa Rica

22,840

85

6.10%

Exports of Top Countries

Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela top the list in terms of total exports. Venezuela has a much higher export compared to the others due to its heavy reliance on oil exports.

Country

Exports ($M)

World Rank

Mexico

248,800

15

Brazil

137,500

22

Venezuela

69,230

36

Chile

58,210

41

Argentina

46,600

47

Colombia

24,860

58

Peru

22,690

63

Ecuador

12,560

71

Panama

8,087

81

Costa Rica

7,931

82

Labor Force Breakdown of Top Countries

The following chart breaks down the labor force according to the sector.

Country

Agriculture

Industrial

Services

Total Population

Brazil

20%

14%

66%

187,399,000

Mexico

18%

24%

58%

106,682,000

Colombia

22%

19%

59%

44,482,751

Argentina

40,301,927

Peru

9%

18%

73%

28,750,770

Venezuela

13%

23%

64%

27,953,701

Chile

14%

23%

63%

16,763,470

According to the World Bank, Latin America is supposed to grow 3% next year. This will require somewhere between 350 and 400BB to finance the growth with multilateral lines of credit providing only 10% of this amount. [2]

Industrial

Latin America is home to some of the largest mining companies in the world. The region is rich in silver, copper, iron ore, and to a lesser extent, zinc and lead. Rising commodity prices, most notably in silver, have created a lot of wealth in these countries and the mining companies. In addition, steel production is in high demand with the growing infrastructure of the developing nations, in particular Brazil.

Agriculture

Latin America is the world's leading producer of coffee, orange juice, sugar, and soybeans. Brazil is the top producer in every one of those categories. Latin America is also a major producer of corn and fruit, such as bananas. Argentina is one of the more agriculturally driven countries in Latin America with about 55% of exports coming from agriculture.[4]

Energy

Mexico and Venezuela are both top ten world oil producers and new discoveries in Brazil could launch it in the top ten as well. Venezuela is the most dependent on its oil production - oil accounts for about a third of GDP and over 80% of exports.[7] Brazil, on the other hand, gets over 90% of its energy from hydroelectric power, and its large soybean production also leads to a large production of ethanol. Argentina gets about 80% of its electricity production from natural gas and hydroelectric power.[8] Colombia has the largest coal reserves in Latin America.[9]

Petroleos de Venezuela is the largest oil producer in Venezuela. It is owned by the Venezuelan government.

Banking

As the economies in the these developing countries start to gain wealth and expand, the banks receive more and more demand. Building the infrastructure increases the number of loans demanded and the growing middle classes are putting more money into the banks. This is best exemplified in Brazil as the country has the four largest banks in Latin America due to its large and rapidly expanding economy.

Telecommunications

Latin America has a mobile phone penetration of 66% as of early 2008 with about 375 million people owning phones in Latin America and the Caribbean.[12] Penetration in the rest of the world averages around 46%. Latin America is also ahead of the curve in 3G services. Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay all have 3G networks offered by their telecom companies.[13] Brazil is the 5th largest mobile phone market in the world.[14]

Transportation

The largest transportation companies in Latin America are primarily made up of regional airlines. Much of the fleets consist of mid distance planes such as Boeing 737's and short distance planes like prop planes. Countries like Panama and El Salvador serve as major hubs between the US and South America and, as a result, are home to some of the larger regional airlines.

Political Environment

Almost every country in Latin America has a democratic form of government at this point, but that does not mean every country has political stability or is without corruption. Venezuela is run by a socialist party which gets about half its revenues from Venezuela's oil sales. Other countries like Mexico and Brazil have sub par corruption levels, but the general political environments are relatively stable. Political stability helps create confidence in the country in the eyes of foreign investors - Brazil received $37B in foreign direct investment in 2007.